RENOVATION EXPERT
Bryan Baeumler’s newest home show decides on your reno for you
New TV show asks homeowners to hand control to Brian Baeumler
If you’re a not-so-handyman, Bryan Baeumler is probably the last person you want showing up at your door (or maybe he’s the first, depending on how willing you are to accept help).
But with decades of contracting experience and a handful of construction-based reality shows, including Disaster DIY, House of Bryan and his latest, Leave It to Bryan, Baeumler is saving Canadian homeowners from catastrophic — and potentially dangerous — situations.
We caught up with the ever-busy and coveted contractor while he was in Calgary promoting his recently launched HGTV series. (Leave It to Bryan airs Thursday evenings on HGTV; there’s more info at hgtv.ca.) Q: Leave It to Bryan is very different from your average DIY show in that it’s you who has the final say on the renovation. How and when did this concept come to fruition? A: The second day after I decided to be a contractor. No, really, the concept has always been there — we go in and they say ‘we want this.’ And there’s always something else that morally, financially, ethically and logically we should be spending some money on.
The entire concept is that people don’t often recognize what the real issues are or what the real priorities are. Everybody wants the shiny and new; everybody wants the bling. That, unfortunately, is what our society values. ‘Look at that great kitchen,’ or, ‘Look at that great floor.’ Q: How much do the homeowners know beforehand and how do you get them to agree? A: They understand the concept that I’m going to come in, look around and take their wants and desires into consideration. However, they have to agree that they trust me, that they will turn over their budget and allow me to make the decision on what we should be doing in their home.
It’s a fun concept: Let loose, let go, put your money on the table, walk out the door and then come back after it’s done. It’s a little scary. And, yes, there’s some screaming and some crying and some swearing and a little bleeping. But, at the end of the day, everybody’s happy. Q: How do you manage homeowners’ reactions when they come home to find something completely different from what they’d hoped for? A: I run. Actually, it’s good because I’m there when they come back and I can explain to them why we did what we did.
What I want to show people through the show is that sometimes you have to let go. If you go to a doctor . . . to have your appendix out, you let the doctor do it. Don’t tell him how it should be done. We go in — and maybe with a little shock value — and you think we’re going to tile your bathroom. You come home and the front of your house is ripped off. Then my goal is to explain exactly why we did that, show you how we did that and justify we did the right thing financially, morally — everything. Q: Why is it important for homeowners to understand the difference between a want and a need renovation? A: We really tend to undervalue the things in the home that make a home valuable, being how long is it going to last and what’s it going to cost to operate. I think, as we see energy prices start to increase, as we start to run out of clean water, those things are going to make a home much more valuable. They may be toward the end of our lifetime, they may be sooner.
I have three kids and they’re going to have kids — hopefully — so, we have to look at a little further ahead down the road than just bang up a bunch of sloppy homes, make them look great and sell them to the next guy and let him worry about it. Q: With TV shows, a construction company, a wife and three kids and myriad other obligations, clearly, you’re a busy guy. How do you manage to keep a work/life balance? A: What I don’t have at home is an office, because when I’m home, I’m home. I never want to be sitting at home in an office saying to my kids, ‘Leave me alone; give me half an hour.’ When I come home, I’m dad, I’m husband, boxing champion, princess or the beast — whatever’s happening that day. I’m invited to tea parties and building Lego.
We also pick times in the schedule where we’ll go away for a couple of weeks to a month and that’s our family time.
I am home, I just travel a lot. Sometimes I’ll jump on a plane after breakfast, go somewhere and be home for kissy times at bed.